XN000022-1995-11-15 — Page 52

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Reply:

Mr President,

The aim of the compassionate rehousing scheme is to help individuals and families who have a genuine and immediate housing need. Applications for compassionate rehousing are first assessed by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) which then recommends eligible cases to the Housing Department (HD) for the allocation of units. In assessing eligibility, factors taken into account by SWD include the housing need, the financial and residential status of the family concerned and relevant social and medical grounds.

(a)

The number of applications for compassionate rehousing by divorced women which were referred by SWD to HD in the past three years are 140 in 1992-93, 269 in 1993-94 and 212 in 1994-95.

We do not have readily available data on the number of applications from divorced women which were found to be ineligible on assessment by SWD. The most common reasons for turning down such applications were a lack of need for rehousing or applicants having incomes which were too high.

(b)

Provided that all the relevant information is furnished at the time of application, a case can normally be processed by SWD in about six weeks. It will then take about four weeks for HD to identify and allocate a public housing unit to the applicant. This can take longer if the applicant is slow in producing the necessary documentation or is choosy regarding the acceptability of the units offered.

(c) The eligibility criteria of the compassionate rehousing scheme are kept under review to ensure that they meet the genuine and immediate housing needs of applicants. Each year, a number of public housing units are reserved to serve the scheme, by reference to the estimated demand. In 1995/96, a quota of 2,000 units has been set aside for this purpose. The quota set is for planning purposes only and does not create a cap on the number of units available. For example, in 1994/95, a total of 2,049 units were actually allocated for compassionate rehousing, a number which exceeded the quota of 2,000 units originally reserved for the scheme in that year.

End/Wednesday, November 15, 1995